This essay examines the implementation of the Swedish government's Action Plan on Business and Human Rights by two Swedish companies. The study is conducted using a qualitative method in combination with a comparative approach. The data analyzed consists of the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Swedish government's Action Plan on Business and Human Rights from 2015, and the Swedish legal framework on business including human rights in there sustainability report. The study also looks at the government's follow-up of the Action Plan to determine if the measures taken had any effect. The study does not take into account any new developments in the issue presented by the current government. The study finds that the two companies have implemented some of the recommendations made in the Action Plan, but not all. The analysis shows that the companies' reporting on human rights is inadequate and not in line with the Action Plan's requirements. The study concludes that more needs to be done by companies to ensure the respect for human rights and the implementation of the Action Plan.

Operating through complex supply chains and multiple jurisdictions, today’s business enterprises can outsource manufacturing to different parts of the world where they can take advantage of low labour- and production costs. In the global quest for businesses to maximise their profits, deteriorating working conditions for offshore labour workers are increasing the risks of human rights abuses. Such abuses often take the form of ‘modern slavery’, which refers to situations of exploitation in which labour workers are trapped and unable to leave due to threats, violence, deception, abuse of power or other forms of coercion. In 2015, the United Kingdom (UK) enacted the Modern Slavery Act (MSA), aimed at combatting modern slavery by requiring business enterprises to be transparent with the steps they have taken to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place within their supply chains. By putting pressure on business enterprises to display their actions taken to address adverse human rights impacts, the MSA has brought the responsibility of business enterprises to conduct ‘human rights due diligence’ (HRDD) – as stipulated in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) - into domestic law. While the MSA has been regarded as a ‘world-leading instrument’ and a ‘historic milestone’ by the UK government, its effectiveness in counteracting modern slavery has been questioned in various studies, pointing towards a risk that the MSA is allowing human rights abuses to prevail under a form of a legal veil. Bearing in mind the country’s long colonial history, the enactment of the MSA can be seen as carrying an important symbolic value for the UK when it comes to taking accountability for human rights abuses committed overseas. However, adopting weak or ineffective legislation could instead, paradoxically, reflect an interest by the UK government to maintain beneficial trade relationships based on exploitative working conditions in a manner that reflects a continuation of former colonial power structures. This thesis is set out to examine this potential paradox by analysing the MSA’s level of compliance with the UNGPs from a postcolonial perspective.